A U.S. Army howitzer successfully engaged a simulated cruise missile, shooting it down with a projectile traveling at Mach 5. The howitzer crew was assisted by a new U.S. Air Force battle management system. The test is the result of a Pentagon program designed to take existing weapon systems and modify them to take on new and important roles.
The intercept took place at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. In a key test for the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), B-52 bombers launched six BQM-167 “Skeeter’ aerial targets. The “Skeeters” served as a stand-in for a salvo of low-flying cruise missiles.
Air Force sensors detected the “cruise missiles” and then provided targeting data to a F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter and MQ-9 Reaper drone equipped with AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, a ground launcher, a U.S. Navy 5-inch deck gun, and U.S. Army M109A7 Paladin self-propelled howitzer....MORE
